Obama: An Intimate Portrait

by Pete Souza
Hennepin County Library hardcover 346 pages
genre: photojournalism, presidential history

I almost bought this at Costco for $30 but waited on the list at the library for over two months instead! I love Souza's work and the way he captured many of the moments and moods in President Obama's White House. This is a lovely book and it made me appreciate Obama's personality and leadership even more than I did before looking at it. I think he is a kind, thoughtful, intelligent, caring human being with a fun sense of humor.

Souza took millions of photographs over the eight years of the Obama WH! (Literally, millions.) I don't know how he decided on these, but it's a wonderful book.

Playing for Pizza

by John Grisham
Scott County Library audiobook 6 CDs
read by Christopher Evan Welch
genre: realistic fiction

A friend recommended this to me. I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped, but haven't read a lot of Grisham and may need to see if this is typical for him.

Rick Dockery is a much-maligned NFL quarterback who has had one concussion too many. At the story's outset, he is thoroughly dislikable! Arrogant, selfish, brash womanizer . . . pretty typical portrayal of a handsome pro athlete. Even when he ends up in Italy to play for Parma's football team (American football, not soccer), he is a jerk.

But over the course of the story, Rick changes. It is gradual and it is pleasant, but I found myself cheering for him.

Even more than the human characters, the town of Parma, the food, the Italians beckoned. I wanted to book a trip! That reminded me of seeing "Under the Tuscan Sun." Hated the movie, but wanted to travel there!

Enjoyable story. The ending fell flat for me, but it was minor. Rick's story arc and the Parma football season were the important parts.

Witness in Philadelphia

by Florence Mars, with the assistance of Lynn Eden
Hennepin County Library hardcover, 281 pages
genre: non-fiction history, Civil Rights

I had a piece of paper with three titles on it - Mississippi Burning (a DVD), Murder in Mississippi (an account of the court case), and this one which is a personal eyewitness to the events of 1964.

I was intrigued by the thought of a white woman in Mississippi sharing her perspective of the murder in 1964 of three civil rights workers (James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner). A previous book I had read about the three young men dealt with the horrific murder, cover-up, and publicity (noting that had two of the men not been white, no one would know about it).

Sigh. This was interesting but also depressing. First, it is definitely a product of its time and place. Published in 1977 in Louisiana, it certainly retains some of the tone of that era and place. The preface has two quotes on it:
"Outsiders who come in here and try to stir up trouble should be dealt with in a manner they won't forget." (Neshoba Democrat, April 9, 1964)
"To understand Neshoba County, you have to live here a hundred years." (common saying)

Though Florence Mars is sympathetic to the "Negroes" who are treated so horribly in her home community and she also is persecuted by the KKK for her outspokenness, she still seems quite sympathetic to the majority of the white residents of Neshoba county and the culture shock they experienced in the 1960s. The sentiment that white people had "treated them" (African Americans) so well and it just wasn't appreciated . . . well, please! I just can't stomach it.

The other aspect of the book that truly distressed me is that the men of the KKK identify themselves as Christians! What?!?!?! What Scriptures are they reading? How does brutalizing people, denigrating them, and murdering them fit with what Jesus taught?!?! Ugh!

Since I've never been a great student of history, I think it's important to read a lot of perspectives. In that sense, this was a worthwhile book with lots for me to think about. (And I am so very grateful for all the people who have fought for equal rights in the past and continue to strive for justice today!)

Page 170 - When the police were beating Bud and his wife Beatrice was praying for his life to be spared . . . I got chills. I love that her faith and prayer were answered! (Though I wish they'd never been in a life-or-death situation just for being black and driving down a road . . . )

Page 205 - Pastor Clay was one of my favorite people in this book! His sermons and stances made a difference. "Whatever else the cross means - above everything it is God's way of saying to us, 'You can break my bones, you can drain my blood, you can crush my body, but you cannot stop me from being what I am: the Heavenly Father who loves you and cares for you.'"



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A Trick of the Light

by Louise Penny
Scott County Library audiobook 9 CDs
read by Ralph Cosham
genre: murder mystery

This is another Inspector Gamache / Three Pines mystery. There are things I love about this series and things that bug me. I honestly liked the very first one I "read" the best of all so far! (Book 5 - Bury Your Dead).

This one had an interesting theme of marriage and couples (and separations). Enid and Jean-Guy are separated. Jean-Guy is in love with Annie (Gamache) and finds out that she and her husband David are going to separate. Armand and Rene-Marie. Peter and Clara Morrow. The husband and wife artist team who were snarky at Clara's show. Inspector Brunelle and her husband Jerome.


There's also the ongoing use of poetry throughout her books. Ruth's poems, but also ones that Gamache's dad recited to him and that he recited to his own children.

I laughed at someone being referred to as an "emotional vampire" even though I don't remember which character this was about. The dead woman, probably. Lilian.

I also laughed at Beauvoir lying about his identification as an art critic for Le Monde while at the vernissage with all the snooty art world people! Funny! (I intuited what a "vernissage" was from context clues, but had to look it up just now to learn how to spell it! Blogger says it's wrong . . . I'm pretty sure it's just French. )

Ugh! I did not like the references to Clara's painting of the Virgin Mary / Ruth as "an angry old woman, forgotten, bitter . . . " Scripture clearly indicates that Jesus asked John to take care of his mother. The "irreligious" aspect of her books bothers me, as does some of the overly dramatic writing and responses of characters we know (to the point where their thoughts or words seem out of character!) Yet I continue to read her books!

Serenity Prayer / AA / Courage to Change . . . Not sure why I made note of this. It was interesting, if a bit skewed in tone (to the negative, I thought).

I liked the conversation that Beauvoir and Gamache had in the car, but was surprised by the end of the book at how much more talking they still need to do to work through some issues! I guess I'll have to keep reading the series.

Chiaroscuro, schadenfreude . . . dude! This almost made me feel illiterate! Good thing I love words so much!

"Do people change?" This was a key question in the case and in this story. I didn't love how she handled the answer, but that's me reading my perspective into the story again!

Ugh again. Psychology. Jean Guy watching the video on mega-repeat. Thinking that Gamache "left him to die." Taking more painkillers than he should and lying about it. Time to order the next book in the series.

Shadows (book two of the Ashes Trilogy)

by Ilsa J. Bick
Scott County Library paperback 518 pages
genre: YA dystopian fiction

Ugh! I "had" to read this book to see where the story arc goes / what happens to the characters. We still don't know what happened to Ellie (though there's a hint at the very end!), but we get to follow Alex's and Tom's paths. We also follow Chris, Nathan, Lena, and a LOT of other characters . . . to the point of confusion. I'd come to a new chapter and scan ahead to see which person's story we were following. And yet . . . I'll go get book three so I can get to the trilogy's resolution.

I'm not sure why so many authors feel a need to express their perspective on Christianity when that is not a theme of the book at all. On page 506, the absolutely crazy Finn says, "Every man breaks, eventually . . . even Jesus cracked at the end. But that wasn't because of what was being done to him. His pressure was doubt and came from within, but he always had a choice." As Finn is trying to find Peter's breaking point and torturing him, he makes a parallel with Jesus on the cross and says that doubt is what Jesus struggled with and made him "crack"? Really?!  Everyone is entitled to their own interpretation of Scripture, but why even make a statement like this? Okay, probably just my pet peeve because I love Jesus and I believe in God's Word.

The other insane thing about my reading this series is that it is not just dark (hello - dystopian fiction) but downright gory and gruesome. The "Changed" are teenagers and young adults who have become cannibalistic zombie-like monsters . . . except now they're "evolving" into attackers who use weapons and strategy. The gross factor in this book was sky-high. It's worse than some of the zombie books I've read. So that made it especially strange when the author included this gem about Cindi on page 516 after Tom talks about the nightmare of what he experienced in combat: "She tried to imagine what that was like, to watch a little girl just blow apart. Her mother had never let her watch movies or play computer games like that. What made people think that killing, even when it was pretend, was something you should do for fun?" Is this author trying to be funny? Or add some kind of moral lesson in an extremely violent, bloody story?


And yet . . . I will read book three to find out what happens to the main characters. (I am curious about Ellie and I am a compulsive reader!)

Salt: A World History

by Mark Kurlansky
Hennepin County Library paperback 452 pages plus bibliography and index
genre: non-fiction, history

I don't remember where I saw the reviews for this book, but it sounded fantastic. I'm on page 130 and not sure I can force myself to keep reading it. Parts of it are interesting, but it seems too academic and dry. I loved The Disappearing Spoon about the periodic table! I expected something like that - interesting and informative.

As much as I love eating salt, my favorite part of this book is on the back blurb. "Salt - the only rock we eat - has made a glittering, often surprising contribution to the history of humankind."

The photographs, maps, recipes, and illustrations add to the text, but I think I'll return it to the library without finishing it.

Part One: A Discourse on Salt, Cadavers, and Pungent Sauces
Part Two: The Glow of Herring and the Scent of Conquest
Part Three: Sodium's Perfect Marriage

Some of the chapter titles (twenty-six in all) are very clever, but the text is just not compelling enough for me to want to invest more time in this book.

Murder in Mesopotamia

by Agatha Christie
Scott County Library audiobook 2 CDs
a BBC 4 full-cast dramatization
genre: murder mystery fiction

This was delightful! I was taken aback at first that it was all dialog and sound effects with virtually no narration at all . . . except a very little diary-like communication from the nurse. Having read plenty of other Christie books, I can tell there is a LOT of abridged content (which of course makes me want to read the original book). Especially since a lot of what Poirot reveals in the clincher scene is stuff we've not even had a hint about!

"Just as Amy Leatheran is about to return to England, she is hired by the celebrated archaeologist Dr. Leidner to work as nurse and companion for his wife - who is subject to fits of nervous terrors. As they travel to an ancient site deep in the Iraqi desert, Amy finds herself in a situation much stranger than she could ever have imagined. . . " I guessed the wrong killer (of course) but loved how the story and cast of characters played out the tale.

I loved the tiny twist at the end! When Nurse Leatheran and Monsieur Poirot are saying goodbye, he says he's going to get some rest and travel on a sleeper car on the Orient Express.